Sad Reason Australian Bong Smoking Teacher Handed out Drugs to Students

A teacher who admitted selling drugs to high school students has avoided jail after telling a court she was suffering from serious mental health issues when she was Bong smoking cannabis with students.

Lauren Russell appeared in Sutherland Local Court on Monday after pleading guilty to supplying illegal drugs to students at Lucas Heights Community School in Sydney’s south in late 2021.

The physics teacher, who was also the school’s Year 12 counsellor at the time, was released on bail on Monday, ending a five-month trial.

The 42-year-old made national headlines in February when footage of her taking a puff from a homemade Gatorade bottle went viral.

The US-born mother of three is seen sitting on a milk crate and looking behind her before a student leans down to light up the cannabis.

Police allege the teacher contacted students outside of school hours and supplied them with drugs between 3pm and 5pm on 15 December 2021.

Russell was arrested at her Beverly Hills home on 4 February and charged with supplying a prohibited drug.

The video went viral a few days later, but no charges have been laid in relation to the video.

COURT REFUSED

The teacher did not make her first court appearance after her arrest, but a spokesperson for the NSW Department of Education confirmed she had been banned from working at the school or contacting students.

Defence lawyer Dev Bhutani appeared on Russell’s behalf via audio-visual link on 9 March and entered a not guilty plea.

The court was told she would seek to have the charges dismissed under mental health laws.

SHOCK GUILT

Despite telling the court she planned to enter a plea at a hearing in June, Russell pleaded guilty in April.

Russell was supported by her husband when she entered her guilty plea on April 27.

Although she admitted her guilt in the case, her lawyers told the court they still intended to have the charge dismissed on mental health grounds.

“LET’S SMOKE”

Documents filed in court show Russell texted a student and asked if they wanted to “meet up and smoke” on the afternoon of December 15.

She then picked up the two minors in her car and drove them to a bush area in Menai.

The court was told Russell had “obtained” cannabis from a 17-year-old former student.

According to court documents, the teacher provided the cannabis to the two students, who smoked it from a homemade pipe.

The trio took turns smoking the cannabis from a Gatorade jug until they were finished, according to police.

When Russell drove the two to the Menai Skate Park, documents show she told several people she had smoked cannabis with the two students.

MENTAL HEALTH APPLICATIONS

During the mental health hearing, Bhutani told the court there was a fortuitous link between his client’s bipolar disorder and her “unusual” behaviour, which was made worse by excessive drinking and cannabis use.

He said the lithium tablets she was taking to treat her mental illness put her at risk of mania because the dose was too low.

“Her bipolar disorder dominated her life at that time,” he said.

“At this level of lithium, she was virtually incapable of making rational, rational and competent decisions.”

Bhutani said the dose of lithium Russell was taking to treat her mental illness was too low, putting her at risk of mania.

He said she had suffered a prolonged period of “acute mania” while supplying cannabis to her pupils and admitted it was a “breach of trust”.

“The combination of alcohol and cannabis use exacerbated the manic episodes over a four-month period,” Bhutani said.

Bhutani noted her client’s “impeccable record” and excellent character, which Judge Stewart said was supported by “positive references” from the parents of a former pupil.

A police prosecutor objected to the application, highlighting the young age of the pupils Russell admitted supplying drugs to.

APPLICATION REJECTED

On Monday, Russell appeared in court, supported by her husband, where Judge Stewart dismissed her mental health application.

However, the judge acknowledged that the former teacher was experiencing “hypomanic episodes” caused by her bipolar disorder, which was diagnosed in 2009 and led to “episodes” in 2011 and 2015.

The latter incident occurred after she smoked cannabis while abroad with her husband, the court heard.

Meanwhile, the court was told that Russell had developed a habit of drinking excessively during the 2021 Covid lockdown and that she had started smoking cannabis four days before supplying it to the student.

Stewart said Russell’s moral culpability for the crime had been reduced somewhat, but not entirely.

He told the court it was in the public interest not to dismiss the case.

SENTENCE

Russell was released on bail on the condition that she abstain from illegal drugs and continue psychiatric treatment for at least two years.

The court also ordered her to have no contact with any students involved in her offending.

Stewart said if Russell continues to abstain from drugs and alcohol at high levels, the chances of her reoffending are very low.

“The offender has taken positive steps to improve her mental health,” the judge said.

“I find her to have a good prospect of rehabilitation.”

No sentence was recorded and Russell was ordered to undergo a treatment plan, with the support of mental health professionals, under a Conditional Bail Order.

CONSEQUENCES

Judge Stewart told the court that Russell could undergo a court-ordered treatment regimen that included regular appointments with a psychiatrist, abstinence from cannabis and alcohol, and prescription medication to treat her bipolar disorder.

While he acknowledged she was a “dedicated teacher,” the judge questioned why neither her husband nor her colleagues had recognised her near-psychotic behaviour.

He told the court she was “remorseful” and highly unlikely to reoffend.

Stewart noted that Russell would no longer be able to teach children, a “significant” punishment.